Offensive Powers
Claws Claws are Alex Mercer's most prominent anti-personnel ability. Alex shifts his Biomass into 3 fingered, 1 thumbed talon like appendages that he uses to shred flesh and bone, cutting both the Infected and Military in half with a single sweep in some cases. The Claws are the first offensive power the Alex will acquire. In basic terms, the Claws are best used as a well rounded anti-infantry weapon and when upgraded with the groundspike ability, they can inflict massive area damage. Despite its theme towards being a solid anti-infantry ability, the Claws can deliver sufficient damage to an APC when upgraded, though using Hammerfists or Muscle Mass is more efficient. The Groundspike Ability is acquired via upgrade. When used, it causes spikes of biomass to rise up from underneath the ground and impale anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in the radial area of damage. Hammerfist Hammerfists are a primarily anti-vehicle power that can be used by Alex. By shifting large amounts of biomass towards his hands, Alex can create large hammer-like weapons that are excellent at crushing both vehicles and infantry. Hammerfists are bought from the upgrade screen later in game, around the same time the player first encounters Tanks. Although best served as an anti-vehicle weapon because of its slow speed yet powerful strikes, it is also quite useful against hunters. If the Player charges up his punch, he can knock one enemy horizontally into another and kill two birds with one stone. The Hammerfist can be used as a four strike combo that shatters the street and knocks all ground targets in range over, and can be upgraded to take out tanks and other military armor much more effectively, and additionally can be charged up for increased damage. A powerful, must have move that can be unlocked later in game, is the Hammer Toss, which allows Alex to hurl himself across a distance, destroying everything in his path. MuscleMass MuscleMass is obtained after the Hammerfists and before the Whip Fist powers. It boosts Alex's strength to immense proportions, increasing the damage done in close combat and the damage and distance of thrown objects. However, the strengths far outweigh the weaknesses. Alex's strength is increased twofold. This power is most useful against infantry or as a means to increase throwing distance to attack helicopters and other enemies. The power, however, can be upgraded to become anti-vehicle as well as anti-infantry. Alex can be seen in pre-release content to easily pick anyone and anything up, super soldiers and pedestrians alike, then rip them in half and absorb their biomass. A fully charged punch from Musclemass will literally split a human target in two. Blade Alex grows an elongated double ended blade from his elbow onward, turning his arm into a giant razor sharp cutting machine. Though not as fast as the Claws, and not as brutal as the Hammerfists, The Blade can get the job done. When the Blade is outfitted with the Shield it can become quite the combination. The Blade Arm is another strong attack mechanism against flesh and bone, preferably larger foes such as the Hunter. However, the Blade is also a "Jack of all trades - Master of none" in a sense, since it inflicts moderate damage to vehicles as well, especially aircraft. This is seen when Alex whirls his Blade into the air and forces it down with such great force the Helicopter collapses beneath it's tremendous force. The Blade is most effective with the armor. It may not be as strong as the Hammerfists, but it causes more damage per second, due to the sheer speed of it, and it may not be as fast as the claws, but again it causes more damage per second. After upgrading the Blade Arm, Alex can perform a special attack to take out all targets within range in a flurry of moves leaving only a spray of blood and chunks of flesh. The Blade Arm can be upgraded to have an attack to drop from the air with tremendous force able to crush a hunter or tank in one hit. another upgrade gives you the ability to run and pull a chain of hits off that allows for quick runs through a crowd leaving bodies and gore behind. Additionally Blade attacks can be charged up for increased damage, much like the Claws. Whip The Whipfist is one of many abilities Alex Mercer has at his disposal, and the weapon of choice when opposed by the recurring Helicopters the Player encounters. The Whipfist is an extremely useful ability for hijacking them while staying in the air. However, the Whipfist can be used as a weapon, useful for clearing out large groups of enemies when Alex becomes surrounded. The Whipfist, along with the Groundspike ability and Devastator, is the only real ranged power Alex can use (aside from Military firearms) and is pretty much a razor sharp tentacle that can lash out and cut enemies in half. The Whipfist is also capable of cutting through crowds of enemies in seconds. The Whipfist can bunch together on two hands, the resulting strike being powerful enough to take down a helicopter and shatter the bones of a Super Soldier. The Whipfist is able to grab enemies, civilians and vehicles (after purchasing the long shot grab upgrade) from range with a variety of upgrades, and sling them great distances and with more force than when he would normally throw someone. This can be combined with 'Skyjacking' (hijacking a helicopter in mid-air) in which you grab hold of a helicopter at range, pull yourself in and assume control of it. The Whipfist is also involved in the Achievement "Cleanup" which involves killing 15 enemies in 1 swipe. One good technique is to use the Street Sweeper after you move by a group of infected. Devastators The Devastator attacks are Alex's "superweapons"; they inflict massive area damage and require an amount of Alex's critical mass health to execute. A few have been seen in trailers, previews, and gameplay videos. In one of them, Alex smashes his hands in the ground, forcing massive amounts of biomass to form multiple spikes that come out of the ground which impales nearly everything around him (this has turned out to be the Graveyard Spike Devastator). The other one, Alex uses his biomass to create dozens upon dozens of tendrils to erupt from his body, causing everything around him to be impaled (Tendril Barrage Devastator). There are six Devastator attacks in total - three completely different attacks and two variants of each one. They are all initiated by a combination of two buttons. Tendril Barrage Devastator - Massive amounts of hard, fibrous tissue erupts from within Alex's body that impales everything around him, then brings back some material and shoots it out in a ring. Only the supreme hunter/hybrid can do this as well as Alex. Wide area of affect, and excellent against numerous organic enemies (hunters, humans, infected). It is rather ineffective against armor. Air Tendril Barrage Devastator - A variation of the regular Tendril Barrage Devastator. Graveyard Spike Devastator - Creates spikes from the ground that impale everything around Alex, very similar to the Groundspike move. Very effective against armor but not effective against strong infected such as hunters. Air Graveyard Spike Devastator - A variant of the above, where Alex pounds the ground from the air and creates spikes from the ground that impale everything around Alex. Very effective against armor but not effective against strong infected such as hunters. Critical Pain Devastator - A hard mass of tissue erupts from Alex's hands that is shaped similar to the hammerfist, only longer. Can only effect things in the firing line, but has a long range and is catastrophic to everything in the way, exploding tanks in one hit or downing a leader hunter within seconds. Air Critical Pain Devastator - Another variant of a regular Devastator attack.